Resurrection
by Soalai
Summary: Currently under revision to make it better from the original 2005 version. Don't worry, I'm keeping the story, the description, dialogue, and grammar will just be better.
1. Duty

**Duty**

Raven stared out into the distance as the sun started to set, setting the sky ablaze with bright, warm light. She was meditating... sitting cross-legged chanting her mantra... "_Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinth—_" a high, gruff voice dissolved her mind into pieces.

"Raven? Raven, wake up! Raven!" Raven gasped. She opened her eyes. Beast Boy was calling her for something. She broke her focus and thudded to the ground. Quickly getting up, she asked him, "What is it, Beast Boy? Is there something wrong?"

"We need to talk. Alone. Now!" he said firmly. "Come on!" he grabbed her wrist and dragged her inside the tower. They skidded through the hallways until he stopped in front of his room. "Open up!" he said to it as Raven rolled her eyes. He pounded on the door with his clenched fists. It slid open, and he pulled her along inside.

As usual, he had clothes and comic books scattered all over the floor. It was almost impossible to step anywhere without skidding on a pile of dirty laundry. He let go of her arm, then sat down on the floor. "I was thinking... about... well..."

"Yeah," she urged. "Go on."

"Remember when you found that dragon sealed in one of your books? And you freed him from being trapped?" he asked hesitantly. He didn't want to say something he would regret.

"Yeah, Malchior..." her voice trailed off. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I think that spell you used... could free someone else," he replied slowly.

"Who? We don't know anyone who would be frozen in an inanimate object for_—_"

Raven gasped. _Oh._ Visions filled her mind faster than she could think, overwhelming her. Beast Boy knew what she was seeing.

_A canyon. There was a rumbling sound from far away, coming closer every moment. The Titans saw a young girl running for her life, in jean shorts and a grey t-shirt. Her blonde hair rushed with the wind as a giant scorpion pursued her. It was gaining on her, getting closer to the edge. Then she was cornered. The helpless young teenager was trapped. Soon her innocent life would end. But then something happened. Something unexpected, indeed. She turned around and her eyes started glowing a fierce yellow. Her hands glowed with power as a giant boulder fell from above, crushing the monster flat._

"I..." Beast Boy didn't finish. He didn't want to say her name.

_A blonde girl, with a black shirt and yellow shorts. She wore goggles and rode atop a boulder as many others streaked across the sky at her will. They swirled around, and she jumped from the front to the one in the back row, and repeated this act over again. She jumped off onto the tower roof. She commanded all four of the rocks up into a cross, where they finally collided in a burst of gravel._

He couldn't say her name. He could never face that pain again. He remained silent and more memories shot through him.

_The girl again, caked with dirt. Tears streamed down her face as she turned away. She sported a steel outfit with a breastplate, shoulder and knee-pads, and steel gloves and boots. Cloth wrapped around her skin, covering it where the armor did not. The cloth was in shreds, as if the girl was tortured. A burst of light shot from her body. She gave it all her power, and shut her eyes in pain. The light faded, and the girl was turned to pure stone. Her arms were still outstretched, her were eyes still crying with horror, pain, and regret._

Raven regained her senses. Beast Boy continued speaking to her, finally willing to say something over the void of the past that was swallowing him.

"You know what I'm asking, Raven? Please?"

"Beast Boy. I don't know if I have the kind of power to—"

"You have to!" he yelled at her, cutting her off. "Raven, you have to do this. Think of her. Think of the sacrifices she made to save us all. We've waited long enough! You have to do it... for the Titans..." his voice faded into the silence.

"…For our friend."


	2. Trouble

**Trouble**

Raven shut her eyes and turned away from him. Did she really _want_ to bring back that liar to their team? Yes. She had no clue why, but she did.

"Beast Boy, I don't know if that spell has the kind of power to free her... but I'm willing to try it. It might be the only way," she admitted. "I'll tell the others."

"Thank you so much, Raven. You have no idea how much this means to me!" Beast Boy said, as he followed her into the living room cheerfully.

_I do_, Raven told him silently. _Liar or not, you loved her. We all did._

The living room was bustling, even at the calm sunset. Robin and Cyborg were perched on the sofa, mashing buttons and rotating the analog sticks of the GameStation furiously. Starfire was cooking in the background, apparently cooking a Tamaranian cake or pie of some sort.

"Ha, gotcha now, Cyborg! Take that!" Robin sneered at his robotic companion, triumphant as a red and a blue robot wrestled on the giant tower screen.

"Yo, how did you do that? I looked up all the combo moves! That one isn't in there!" Cyborg yelled.

"Just the advantage of looking up the _German_ combo servers," Robin snickered.

"Oh no you did _not_!" Cyborg screamed. Soon he was pressing buttons so fast that the controller looked like it would snap in half. He was still losing as Robin laughed.

Starfire, meanwhile, was adding berries and some kind of powder to her foreign concoction. She stirred it joyfully, then looked up at the others who had just arrived.

"Oh, hello Raven, Beast Boy. Is there something with which I can assist you?"

"Tell Cy and Robbie that we've gotta talk," Beast Boy ordered.

"In a moment. I have yet to—"

"_Now_, Star!" he demanded again.

"I am afraid the boys will not pay attention to me. They are busy playing the games of the video—"

"_**NOW!**_"

Starfire was taken aback. She had rarely seen her friend this agitated.

"Fine, Beast Boy. I shall go ask them to join this conversation of which you speak," she sighed, walking towards the sofa.

"Robin. Beast Boy and Raven wish to speak with you two. It is of... _great importance_," she told him, leaning over and whispering this last bit in his ear.

"Okay, Starfire. We'll be just a second," he replied, as he walked over to turn the GameStation off and set down his controller. Cyborg scowled but set his down as well.

He went back over to Beast Boy and Raven, as Starfire and Cyborg followed. "Hey, Beast Boy. What's wrong?"

"Yeah, man! Give us the play-by-play," Cyborg insisted. "What's goin' on? It better be important enough for you to interrupt my ass-kickin' on bird brain over here."

Robin snorted.

"Well—" Raven began.

Beast Boy stopped her mid-sentence. _He_ wanted to explain it. After all, it was _his_ decision. _He_ was determined to get her back, no matter what it took. No matter how hard it would be.

"Terra."


	3. Gathering

**Gathering**

"Terra?" Robin repeated. "But she's frozen in stone and—"

"I know how we can get her out," Beast Boy said firmly. "But we'll need help. Cyborg will have to scan Raven to see if she's powerful enough to bring her back. She helped Malchior, and she can help Terra."

"Well, then, y'all," Cyborg cheered. "We'd better get to work!"

From then on, they analyzed Raven's power in every way possible. With all sorts of twisting wires and massive computers, they hooked her up and tested into oblivion. They made her do everything, from destroying large objects under a time limit to sitting still and waiting. She didn't flinch during the latter tests, because she knew that she had to put up with the them in order to rescue Terra from her stone imprisonment.

Days and days flowed on, more tests were run on every part of Raven's body and mind to see if she had what it takes to free their dear friend.

Their dear friend who had arrived, run away, returned, disappeared, and betrayed them all. None of them had a clue why they wanted her back, but they did.

Why were they doing this?

Their answers, five trains of thought in an elsewhere of uncertainty, echoed on where no one could hear them. They all had five different opinions and they would all stand by them.

_For the city_, claimed a grim rasp.

_For our promise._ Another one, low and honest.

_For our friendship._ An innocent chirp.

_For what__'s right._ A flat, rolling tone.

_For me._ The last one, strident and scratchy.

They all wanted her back, despite their conflicting reasons as to why they thought so. It was the least they could do. Nothing could ever be worth the courage it took them all to say goodbye.

Finally, as the next day began and the sun erupted in the sky with a warm glow, Cyborg announced "We're done, y'all! And Raven is good to go."

"Friend Cyborg," the redhead alien began, "are you positive this will work? There is so much—"

He cut her off. "Of course I'm sure, Star," he reassured. "Rae has every bit of what we need, she just needs to give it all she's got."

They all carried the same message in their minds. They were a team. And the story of Terra wasn't over yet.

But little did they know, two forces housed in one had been watching in the shadows, with plans of their own that the Titans were not aware of.

For Terra was not the only Titan that had two sides of who she was and who she could be...


	4. Dreams

**Dreams**

As the two who were watching the Titans shrank back into the shadows, Raven turned to Beast Boy and Starfire.

"It could be dangerous," she told them.

"I don't care!" Beast Boy snapped at her, without warning. He grabbed her wrists and looked her in the eye with a scowl.

"I just want Terra back, no matter what it takes. You, of all people, have no idea how much this means to me. I _will_ get what I want."

He walked away with a glare he hadn't given since he had toxic chemicals spilled on him a few months ago. A wicked glint reached his eyes as he retreated to his room and slammed the door with a loud _"kling!"_ of the metal.

Raven edged back to the other Titans as a puzzled look crossed her face. Whatever emotion was surging Beast Boy, it had lashed out at his friends.

Raven meditated a foot or so above her round bed, chanting.

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metrion Zinthos..._"

Triangular shelves filled with dusty old books, statues shaped like the birds of her home world with red bejeweled eyes, and clear orbs surrounded her.

But in her mind, it was clear. Nothing filled it. No secrets, no darkness.

"_Azarath Me_—" she gasped and coughed as she grasped her own throat for breath. A vision of the past filled her memories slowly and painfully.

_A figure covered entirely in black with steel gloves, boots, and knee pads emerged from a blazing ocean of dancing flames. He wore a mask that was half-black, half-orange. A slim eye on the orange side showed no thought except for the fulfillment of wicked duties. A crude red symbol was etched into the forehead of his mask._

_He grabbed her wrist and a burning pain seared through her flesh, tearing the sleeve of her outfit and leaving a crimson "S" in its place._

_"The message must be delivered. Your destiny _will_ be fulfilled," he told her. "You _can't_ run away from who you are. The portal must be opened!"_

Raven gasped once more and forced her eyes open wide. She panted and fell down onto her bed with a thud. A voice clouded her thoughts once more. It was deep, way too deep to be human. It made the floor shake.

"The world shall end in your wake. The day you were born, the priests found your future. Nothing can stop it now. The portal must be opened!"

"_**NO!!!!!**_" Raven cried.

She was hallucinating, and the plan to help Terra would soon fall apart. But she couldn't tell them the truth. A knock at the door and a call from Robin forced her to let go of that matter.

"Raven! It's time."


	5. Fire

**Fire**

"Raven! It's time," Robin called through her doorway. By that, he meant time to begin the process to revive Terra.

The door of her room slid open, and she followed Robin into the living room silently.

All of the others were there, waiting for both their leader and their key for this whole project. Robin addressed the team.

"Alright, Titans. You know the score. We're going to bring Terra back today... or at least try."

Beast Boy glared at Raven angrily like he had the other night. His entire mind was consumed with the thought that Terra would be his again. Nothing else mattered.

"Raven," he growled. "For your sake, get this right today."

"I will."

Cyborg walked into the desolate edge of the city where a massive junkyard guarded the outskirts and a dump truck stood near the wired fence. They were approaching their destination quickly.

Cyborg had decided to stop here to look for something while the others sat in the T-Car. Raven's arms were full with several volumes of magic spells, charms, incantations, and potions. She was searching for the set of spells that would free a frozen or trapped being gradually.

Starfire peeked over her shoulder, holding all sorts of beautiful bowls, pots, and bottles in her lap. Some were brand new, others looked thousands of years old. None seemed mistreated.

"Raven, I wish to know the purpose of these containers," Starfire inquired.

Raven shifted her eyes from the pages of her books to the curious Tamaranian in the neighboring seat.

"They're for the Kaean spell I learned to give a trapped person a body. But they can't leave the spot the spell was performed."

Starfire looked puzzled. "Kaea? What is that?"

"One of the moons of Azarath nearest the temple. They're experts at entrapment and conversion spells on Kaea, so I thought I'd use their methods first."

Raven knew that the people of Kaea were also very spiritual. They saw gods, spirits, and demons in everything, both good and evil. Which made her wonder: would Terra be the same once the spell was used? Or would she be changed somehow?

Cyborg got back into the car and pulled out a huge battery pack triumphantly.

"Just in case."

The T-Car sped along the main bridge of the city. They were right near the abandoned factory they hadn't been inside for months since it was destroyed. When they had just passed it, a monstrous steel bar slammed into the car with a force so powerful it busted the door off and sent the Titans flying onto the bridge.

Beast Boy looked both shocked and frightened at the same time, as he ran with Cyborg along to the bar to see if they could find out who was wreaking havoc. Steam poured from the edge of the bar where the red-hot metal had just started to cool down.

The two came nearer to it and Beast Boy put his hand out to touch it. He yelped and jumped back. His glove had been torn through, and blistered, scorched green skin took its place.

"Fire," Robin gasped. "That could only be one person, then..."

Raven widened her eyes and enclosed herself inside an orb of shadow energy. She backed away from the factory until she reached the edge of the bridge, driven by nothing but raw fear. She couldn't go any further backwards.

A figure darted out from behind the factory and sailed onto the top of the cables above her head silently.

"Look up."

She did.

A steel gloved hand lashed out at her and caught her by the waist. She didn't have to act any more to know that the hand belonged to Slade.

He leapt down, but kept his firm, burning grip on her. She swayed as he landed, still grasping her torso. He pushed her in closer, which took barely any effort. She would have given anything to break free but he was too powerful.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Raven?" his voice was so cold that she shivered, even though his hand was sizzling-hot. "You knew I would come back for you eventually."

As he purred these last words, with a hint of a smile under his mask, Robin charged at him wildly.

"SLADE! LET HER _GO_!"

"Robin. This is a surprise. It doesn't matter to me, anyway. I'm still ready for you."

Raven felt his voice rumbling with every word against her. A chill went down her spine.

"All of you," the masked maniac hissed.

He tightened his grip on Raven even more, jabbing into her ribs and choking her. She gasped and fell to the ground in fiery pain. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up again mercilessly. She was as fragile as a doll and they both knew it.

"Aaaauuggh!"

"You've been a _bad_ girl. I came to finish your friends off."

As he said this, he leaned in to her and she spun her head around, away from him. She struggled and cried for help, but whenever one of the Titans tried to help her, he shot a snakelike stream of fire out at them and knocked them back.

"I also came to make you tell them. _Now_, Raven."

"N-never," she whimpered.

"If you don't, I will burn them to a crisp." His hands began to flare up and she squirmed again. "Then you'll be _all alone_."

"No..." She was losing strength. She could feel Slade draining it out of her.

"Is that what you want, Raven? To be alone?"

She tried to ask him how he knew the very words told to her almost a year ago, by yet another evil bastard. But she was too weak to talk and the memories themselves made her weak emotionally.

"With no one to help you the day you fulfill the prophecy?"

Raven trembled in fear and pain until she was truly too exhausted to even stand. Was this some energy-sucking power Slade had gained, or just his usual strength? Whichever it was, she finally sank to the ground and clenched her teeth. She breathed heavily and sweat trickled down her face.

Finally she spoke.

"N-n-no..."

"What was that? Resist me, and I'll destroy all of you."

"Y-you... can't... you aren't a... aren't a-allowed to," she realized. He couldn't harm her more than he already had. "If you... d-des... troy me, Trigon will... k-kill you." It hurt her to say her father's name.

"Destroy this!" came the voices of Robin and Beast Boy in unison. Despite Slade's assaults, the team was dashing to her aid.

Robin pulled out his staff and struck him across the face. Beast Boy had morphed into a tiger, and slashed his fierce claws at his chest, leaving bloody streaks in their place. Starfire soared above him and delivered a mighty starbolt to his backside. With each blow Slade shuddered and stepped back a little.

The villain's hands flared up again and he roared, blasting himself off the bridge and after Starfire. They shot bolts of red and green at each other at exactly the same moment. The two shots met and exploded violently, knocking them both back.

Cyborg lifted Raven onto his shoulder and rushed her to safety inside the T-Car white the others were fighting.

His chainsaw arm popped out suddenly and started repairing the T-Car. As soon as the door was fixed on, Raven screwed her eyes up in pain and sent a blast of shadow energy at Slade, knocking him into the ocean.

It took all of the strength she had left. She could focus no longer. The pale empathy passed out in the back seat as the others rushed towards the car.

"Dudes! We have to get out now!" Beast Boy called.

He, Robin, and Starfire got in the car and they sped away from the point where an unexpected encounter had interrupted their true plan for Terra.

As they drove along, Raven stirred, dimly aware of where she was and what had just occurred. Her eyes fixed on the containers Starfire was holding, and she remembered what she had to do.

She did no more before she stuck her nose into a nearby book once more and hoped that she could still act at her full potential so soon after the battle.


	6. Souls

**Souls**

As the car skidded along the main road and Raven's flesh continued to burn in pain, they reached their destination. The light faded through the stained-glass windows as an outcropping jutted from the heart of Slade's previous lair. A small statue stood there - long hair flowing in the breeze, arms spread wide bracing for the worst to come. A withered, brown bouquet of dying flowers lay at her feet, and a plaque was set below that, reading:

TERRA

A TEEN TITAN

A TRUE FRIEND

Starfire pulled out the magical ingredients one cannot describe as "from this world". She handed them to Raven and stared at the petrified Terra's figure in sadness.

Raven fell promptly to the ground, sitting cross-legged with the chalices surrounding her. She pulled a glinting knife from the interior of her cloak, and without warning, it lashed out at her free upper arm, slicing it open with a fresh wound from which blood started to trickle slowly.

The other Titans looked horrified, but only for a second as they realized that it was a small price to pay. She picked up a vial of white powder and poured it into a large glass bowl at the center. She dabbed her cut with a finger and stirred it in with the lavender dust she was adding to the concoction.

As the last act, Raven held the bowl in her hands and tossed the contents into the air, as a thick shower of stardust fell down upon everything in sight.

It wasn't over yet, though. Raven muttered slowly in the beautiful Kaean tongue.

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Tean oraltarez alentaro... Gaendo maehes renta evyanai taren!_"

A mass of smoke boiled from the ashes scattered everywhere and swirled above the heads of the Teen Titans and the frozen young Terra, then gathered around her. A flash blinded the eyes of the team, but they knew whatever Raven was doing, it had worked.

A figure of golden light stepped forth once their view had faded back. It was Terra, but only her spirit, a glowing silhouette. Her body was still trapped in its stone encasement. But she smiled lovingly at the team.

"I'm free."

"Not yet," Robin observed. "Just partially."

"It's cool. I can wait. I'm just so glad to see you guys again! It's been what, almost two years?"

"Long time with nothin' happening," Cyborg remarked. He reached out to give Terra a high-five, but his hand slipped right through her.

Puzzled, the other Titans all looked at Raven as if she knew why that happened.

"You cannot touch her yet," the cloaked Titan answered their silent confusion. "She has no body."

"Oh well," Terra shrugged. She seemed so carefree compared to the distressed girl they had known so long ago.

"It has been a long time, though," the earthmover remarked.

Her words, though happy, seemed far-off and foreign. Almost like everything she did existed in another realm; like the spell Raven cast was what barely brought her faint image and voice into the real world.

"So, almost two years," she repeated. "Geez, how old are you guys now?"

"Fourteen," squeaked Beast Boy.

"Fifteen," answered Robin.

"Eighteen, y'all! I'm legal!" exclaimed Cyborg.

"_Zem'br'akk!_" Starfire giggled. All heads turned to look at her, obviously not understanding the alien timekeeping system.

"On my world, this is seventeen years," she explained. The alien was blushing slightly.

"And, uh..." Robin began.

Raven came up behind him and finished his sentence. "I just turned sixteen." She looked down at the ground coyly as she said this.

"Cool," Terra remarked. "I... I'm only asking to remember how long it's been. I don't even remember anything that happened besides hanging out with you guys. You all seem the same."

She scratched her barely-visible head in awkward silence.

_She doesn't remember_, Beast Boy told himself. This was probably a good thing.

"No way. I'm way taller now," he boasted, trying to lighten the mood.

Raven slumped forward into Cyborg's arms again. "Kaean spells really take it out of me," she huffed.

"Come on Terra, come back to the tower with us!" Beast Boy yelped hurriedly.

"She can't," Raven told him as she shook her head a little. "She's still bound to her statue. She can't eat or fight until she gets a real body again."

Beast Boy looked very disappointed, but Terra gave what they made out to be a smile.

"It's okay. I'll just stay here. You can go back home and chill for the night."

As she said this, the jewels on Raven's cloak and Starfire's neckplate, Cyborg's mechanical eyes, Robin's communicator, and Beast Boy's belt all began to flash red wildly.

That meant only one thing: trouble. Raven sighed wearily.

"I'm too tired," she told the others, and staggered towards the T-Car. "I'll wait."

"But Raven—" Cyborg and Terra stopped Beast Boy before he could tell Raven that she was needed.

"Y'all can stay there while we bring down Mynde. My sensors can tell where he is and stuff," Cyborg comforted.

"Yeah. It's for the best," Beast Boy added.

Raven's eyes widened. "M-Mynde? But he'll suck your minds out like last time! I have to go with you."

She unbuckled her seatbelt, but Cyborg stuck his head in through the window and scowled.

"Alright... I'll stay here. But if you really need me, I—"

This time, Robin stopped her statement. "Mynde might be insane, but he's not that dangerous. We'll be fine."

"But he'll be sure to steal your mind—"

"He's not stealing anything. I promise."

Raven nodded. She trusted her leader to bring down the flexible mime, who often robbed from banks and jewelry stores undetected.

The rest of the team got in with her, while the vision of Terra looked at them with eyes that said "Go. Your city needs you."

The car sped out downtown and skidded to a halt when a mass of twisting limbs shrouded in mist was bubbling away from the other direction.


	7. Thieves

**Thieves**

Sure enough, Mynde was there, warping and twisting himself into odd shapes to thrust himself away from the jewelry store he had robbed. Glistening, priceless gems hung from his neck and wrists as he cackled maniacally.

Only the Titans knew that he was possibly one of the most dangerous foes they had ever faced. Unlike Killer Moth or Control freak, underestimating him meant losing your life - or your mind.

As Mynde escaped, the helpless city behind him, a starbolt shrieked across his face and knocked him to the ground. His body continued to twist and bubble, odd shapes formed by his gelatinous limbs.

"You know, Mynde, that's just disturbing," Robin claimed as his three teammates gathered around him, prepared for attack.

Cyborg prepared his cannon and Beast Boy morphed into a jaguar. They stood fast as the evil mime began to get up again.

Starfire swooped in and lifted Cyborg up into the clear blue sky. His cannon whirred and fired the powerful sonic blast it was created to fire, but Mynde cackled and swirled around it.

Without any warning, the mime crossed his hands over his neck and fanned his fingers out. They all gasped as they knew he was about to use his most powerful ability. His contortionist-like abilities were nothing on this.

He cried in a menacing tone, "Seep mind!" His voice was strident and grating, almost impossible to listen to.

"Titans, close your eyes!" Robin commanded, but it was too late.

As he spoke, a spiral of light that was all colors and no color at the same time shot forth and flashed in their faces. It was like a transparent rainbow, fizzing around them and making their fingers tingle.

They flopped to the ground and Mynde sped off again.

Raven saw the commotion from inside the car and knew that she had to do something. After the attack, her friends were merely writhing worms - with no sense of who they were and how to use their powers. And Mynde now had control over their minds, memories, and secrets.

She knew she had to do something. She opened the door and cried a fearful command that she had only used once before, and it was the only thing she knew that may have been able to defeat Mynde.

"_STOP!_"

She wanted to will it all away. She just wanted everything to stop, freezing the villain and the city, halting anything that moved or breathed.

So she did. A black wave washed over the area, radiating from the chakra on her forehead and tipped with a ghostly blue. The lights from all buildings in the city dimmed slowly, children were stopped amidst laughing, anyone on the move froze, and all activity stopped.

Just like last time, Raven was cold in this new setting she created. Her breathing and footsteps echoed on and on into the sparkling indigo silence.

Yet again she had stopped time. She had no clue how, nor did she a few months ago when the power seemed to come out of nowhere to protect her and her friends from that breaking-down factory. She still had no clue how to control this power; it just happened when she wanted everything to stop.

Mynde was frozen in mid-air, and the Titans below him. She huddled over to them, one by one, putting her grey hand to their foreheads and emanating an azure wave from her palm to heal them. Starfire was first, and Raven was quick to make sure her mind was brought back too.

"Starfire? Are you alright?"

"Raven?"

"Yeah."

"I am fine. Though I do believe I am a bit... 'dizzy', yes?"

Raven smiled. "Yeah, that may be it." She was relieved that he friends would be okay.

The rest staggered to their feet when she revived them.

But soon after she gasped and coughed violently. And before the Titans could help her, the marks Slade had triggered flashed a sinister scarlet, and Raven fell to the ground unconscious.


	8. Preparations

**Preparations**

When they arrived back at Titans Tower, the whole team put taking care of Raven into highest priority. She had explained that Kaean spells drain one's physical and spiritual energy tremendously, and coupled with her stopping time and being attacked by Slade, she was too tired to move now.

She lay on the sofa, breathing heavily and moaning in pain, while Beast Boy and Cyborg ran back and forth around the tower fetching whatever supplies were needed. They returned with a blanket to drape over her gently, and one of her favorite books that was lying on the coffee table to keep her occupied.

Robin and Starfire were in her room, searching for the needed ingredients to perform the next spell to revive Terra. That struck Raven for a moment.

She had never trusted Terra, but the young Titan had sacrificed her own life to save millions of them. It was never clear whether she had been good or evil, but that one selfless action proved that at least she had some good in her. Or did she?

Meanwhile Terra – or a channel of her soul, in this case – stood rigid on the stone path where she had once given her life and would soon get it back. But the former she did not know about.

She had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen soon, but could not get past the mist shrouding her mind to figure it out. She could barely think in this half-trapped form.

Somehow, the bond she had with her friends told her that something was going to interfere with their plan to revive her.

_But what is it?_, she asked herself. _I guess I__'ll know when the time comes._

Raven had stayed in her room for months, coming out occasionally. She was ready to bring back her friend, and was working hard and late in order to insure that she had the power to do that.

She might fail, she and her friends might not get something right, but she knew that she was willing to try, and that was all that mattered right now. Even though she was weighed down by the fact that she would soon... _no_! It was too early to worry about that.

Even if the prophecy was going to come true, Terra could be just one person who could help her stop it.

But could she? Could anyone?

Beast Boy couldn't believe it. Terra was coming back. Terra! His best friend for those few weeks when she was on the team, but then lost her way down the path of life and joined the enemy.

But he trusted her completely now and was determined to have her back. After all, she had gone through more than he could ever understand, and he appreciated every part of that.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, a voice told him: _She dumped you for a reason. Don__t get your hopes up, wimp!_

Months passed. Raven trained, Terra waited, and Beast Boy recalled all of the wonderful times he had with his friend and all of the wonderful times he had yet to have.

As the seasons changed from summer to fall, Terra began to worry.

By the time she had grown sick with worry for the team, a rumbling could be heard from far away, and the sky was a deep blood red as far as she could look. In the distance, a destroyed, crumbled, blackened Titans Tower could be seen. There was a humongous male figure resting on it, like it was a throne of sorts.

Everything had turned to stone. She was only seeing this because she still technically lived in the afterlife, and Raven's weak spell was all that let her communicate with the living world.

Many hours lightning flashed across the sky and she had no clue why, but there was something prophetic about the red sky and the huge man with antlers resting on Titans' Tower. It seemed like forever ago she had looked upon the world of Jump City, and now it looked like this. All the buildings were crumbled to the ground.

After what seemed like hours she heard a cry from near the tower. It was a raspy, angry voice she knew only too well. White lightning rippled through the clouds above.

She thought it was screaming a familiar mantra she knew. Maybe she was crazy, but that little white-purple dot in the distance seemed to be behind it all.

"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!"

A white sheen of power washed over the area, spreading wider and wider, until it enveloped the ruins of buildings, passed through the frozen stone people, and grew until its radiance shined as far as any eyes could ever see, brightening the darkest corners of the world.

Terra knew right then and there that her friends were safe and still thinking of her fondly. She had no clue why the world was in ruins one moment and beautiful again the next, but she didn't need to. Maybe the Titans would tell her later.

Back at Titans Tower, a few weeks after Raven saved the world from herself, she and Beast Boy arranged with the rest of the team a time to try reviving Terra again.

Raven was ready physically and emotionally to take on the challenge of bringing Terra back to life from her statue, after never giving up her training for a second.

Everyone knew that the day had come to set their sights on a goal that seemed so close. Like they could just reach their young arms up and grasp it from the air. At last, they were finally ready.


	9. Within

**Within**

Since the Titans had been waiting patiently for Raven, and she was ready, they gathered in the living room for one final rest before heading out.

As the T-Car sped along the paved roads through the city, getting closer to the outskirts, Raven had all of her books and such with her. She knew that she was at last ready to take on the challenge.

Beast Boy turned to Starfire and started talking with her about her cooking the other day, which he evidently found gross. After saying so, Starfire looked deflated. Cyborg and Robin were in the front seats, conversing about how Cyborg whooped Robin at Ninja Monkeys XVI. Only Raven seemed to act like she cared about Terra.

Why?

Sure, Raven hadn't been that close to Terra, but she was closer to her than Robin and Cyborg were. The scenery of trees and debris rushed by as the car passed through the center of the park.

They were coming closer and closer to the site where Terra had given her life from the wrecked steel and winking orange glass that was Slade's lair. Closer to where it all began and it all ended.

She knew that Slade, regardless of what Robin thought, had gone his own way since the end of the world was reversed.

Finally, Cyborg stopped in the arch-nemesis'-lair-turned-canyon, where the small, braced figure of Terra stood rigid on the outcropping. As always, the plaque was there, stating in seven words stories of sadness, sacrifice, and betrayal.

But now, as the rising sun glinted in the distance, the fizzy golden figure that was Terra's current form stood in front of it, smiling at the Titans and wandering over to them.

Just before she could reach the group, her legs began to fade upward and out as she advanced toward them. She backed away in fear, and her legs reappeared.

"You won't be able to go too far just yet," Raven told her, coming to the center of the canyon and opening her books.

She placed them in a circle around Terra's statue. She pointed to Terra, and gave her a gesture that meant to go further back. Terra gave her a quick sound of protest, but she stumbled on a rock and disappeared into her own solid body.

"You'll have to stay there."

As Raven stood on the outcropping, the rest of the Titans behind her, she closed her eyes and motioned with her hands. Then the chanting began.

It was beautiful, as Raven's husky yet gentle voice spoke the words of power from sheer memory. The last time she had used this spell, it was over a year ago.

"_Hezberac et morinei gostwenthen verbisnex... endobrium bis pendruae paransic cortis rex_!"

Her last words echoed throughout the empty spaces as thick black tendrils of shadow energy rushed from the chakra gem on the half-demon's forehead. Her final cry was heavy through the city as the pages of all of the books filled with interdimensional symbols shredded themselves into bits and swirled wildly around Terra's grave.

From inside the tornado of papers and magic, a scream came abruptly, and a figure began to form from the dusty swirling mass. It was black, lined with white. Burning gold eyes shone through the murky spiral. All five of the Titans backed away as the twister of power faded, and the stone figure of Terra cracked.

Just a small crack began to form in the center of her forehead, and the rumbling sound from within caused it to split down to her chest, blasting her head in half as it continued down.

The two parts of Terra's stone face fell from their setting atop the cold shoulders; they fell and shattered as they hit the ground.

The cracking continued, spreading down to her stomach and her middle fell off in chunks, crumbling into several more pieces as they each collided with the stone surface. The crack continued to fall down in two separate directions, one heading straight under her thigh and splitting her leg in two, the other rushing down the side of her hips as it finally reached the bottom.

What remained of her legs fell over with a thud onto the earth, only fragments.

Beast Boy began to sniffle then burst into crying, tears streaming down his green face and softening the earth beneath his boots into mud, slowly but surely. Besides her statue meeting its demise, nothing else had occurred.

Just before he was about to drop to the ground in sorrow, a bright yellow light gently bathed over the area, beginning from the place where Terra's feet once stood. It lightened up the circle of stone walls until everything was overcome with a soft glow.

Had they failed? No – a rumbling began from the source of the light, underground, until it slowly became louder and louder, traveling up from the core of the planet. It grew deeper and more powerful with each second.

Just as it hit the surface, the ground where the light emanated from began shaking violently, and as the sound was ear-shattering to bear, it ended in a **BANG** and a pool of yellow light flashed from the source.

The light seemed warm and inviting, and from within the depths of the ground, a figure began to emerge.

It was a relatively small and thin figure. First, a battered and dirt-stained steel gloved hand rose up from below, its palm and fingers covered in a black cloth covering. The cloth was even dirtier than the steel, and torn.

The other hand, and now the arms of the figure appeared. They had steel rings around the elbows and were protected by old, grey cloth wrappings. Then, the head emerged, once brilliant blonde hair caked with dirt and mud. Clear, blue eyes shone through the dirt-covered form.

Up came her torso, covered in a steel breastplate and a round symbol, covered so much in filth that it was impossible to see what symbol was underneath. Shoulder pads, knee pads, more shredded cloth wrappings, and a filthy pair of steel boots emerged from under the Titans' feet. Atop her head, two antennae-like things were placed on a pair of berets.

She was so skinny and bony that she had barely any shape to her at all. She looked way too small for her sixteen years of age, but then, she had been frozen since age fourteen and stones do not grow.

The figure turned around, so that the Teen Titans could see all of her. She gave them a sure smile, and her dark eyebrows shot up at the fact that she was alive. Alive! After almost three years of waiting she was finally free to be with her friends again, to beat the bad guys.

It's what she did best, and she was happy to go back to that life. As she opened her thin lips, the Teen Titans stood in joyous awe and listened carefully to what she said.

"Hey guys. Miss me?"


	10. Beginning

**Resurrection – Chapter 10**

After Terra said her first free words and had taken her first free breath, the Titans couldn't stand it anymore. All of them – even cynical Raven, even serious Robin – rushed up to her and embraced her with happiness. As they all threw their arms around their old friend, they knew that nothing could be better as they rejoiced. All of their hard work, tough times, and unbreakable friendship had paid off in the end. As they finished their tears of joy and their smiles, Terra went and stepped back up onto her old perch.

"There's still one last thing I need to do before I come home."

With these words, she carried her fingers over to the symbol on her breastplate. She scraped off the mud until what was underneath it was clear. In the place where the crude "S" had been, a new, shiny "T" had taken its place.

After Terra had cleaned up and relaxed for a bit at the tower, the alarm sounded. Robin dashed to the computer, and rapidly pressed on the keys until that blue map of Jump City had appeared on the monitor. In red letters, "Sector 8, Plasmus" flashed. All of the Titans ran or soared through the door and out into the city. Beast Boy and Terra held hands as they followed the others out the front entrance.

At the hospital, Plasmus was busy smashing open IVs and bottles of medicine for patients. A group of doctors were around him as he devoured bottles of chemicals and increased his already monstrous size. Robin gave a cry of "STOP!" and rushed into the room, hurling his electric disks at Plasmus. They hit him one-two-three, and Plasmus shrieked in a barrel of shock energy – but only briefly. As he broke free, he shot a massive blast of sludge from his chest, knocking Robin backwards and pinning him to the ground. The doctors had long since backed off.

Cyborg dropped in and his sonic cannon blew a large hole in Plasmus, but the slimy villain just laughed and inhaled as the hole closed itself. He lashed his stretchy arm out and blew Cyborg out the door and into the street, stuck to his position as well. As he struggled to free himself, cars driving along the road skidded and slid off course, blocking the path down.

Beast Boy and Starfire flew in, Beast Boy as a bird, slashing Plasmus with his talons. His claws and the rest of his feet were stuck in the mighty enemy's grip. Plasmus laughed again, and Starfire sped by, hurling a large starbolt into Plasmus' mouth. He stumbled back, and after a few seconds, only smoke boiled from his mouth. He blasted Beast Boy off of him, and Starfire was knocked backwards as the two landed on top of each other.

Raven sailed through a pool of energy in the ceiling. She moved her hands toward more large bottles of chemicals, and guided them to collide with Plasmus. They only made him grow larger as the glass cluttered to the floor and shattered. He used his sludgy hands and simply flicked her mouth so that it was covered in much and she fell to the ground, unable to say her mantra.

Finally, Terra came on perched on a floating rock. From outside, she brought in several sharp rocks and they sped at Plasmus. When they hit, each popped one of his eyes until they looked like deflated green balloons. Unable to see, the villain staggered, trying to swat at the little gnat that was Terra. She brought her hands up, and with a mighty yellow glow, three columns of earth snaked out from the ground. They burst through the tile floor and coiled around Plasmus, squeezing him until he fell. The sludge covering him melted away, and in its place was a slumbering young man. Meanwhile, Terra commanded more sharp rocks to cut the slime binding her friends. When they could move and speak, Cyborg took care of getting Plasmus back into jail.

Meanwhile, the other Titans were congratulating Terra. They were even happier to have her back, now that she would once again help them. She might have had a new outfit and better control over her powers, but she was still Terra.

"That was amazing! Even after still being tired, you just got right back in here and stopped him!" Robin cheered. He gave her a high-five.

"Wondrous, friend! I am sure you will remember this, yes?" Starfire asked her, wrapping her strong arms around Terra tightly. Terra coughed and pushed her friend away.

"Nice going, Terra." Raven told her.

"Awesome, Tee! Way to go!" Beast Boy cheered as he hugged her.

"Thanks, guys." She told them. "I had been waiting for you to come free me, and I know now that it's good to be back."

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Teen Titans or any related trademarks/indicia. This story is a work of fiction and has nothing to do with the events that occurred on the show. Teen Titans and all related characters are trademarks and copyright of Warner Brothers and DC Comics. However, the story "Resurrection" and all related situations, new characters, and events are copyrighted to me, Soalai (FocusedShadow). Thank you for reading!


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